Conservatives ahead in latest poll

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's ruling Conservatives hold a
healthy lead over the opposition Liberals but do not have
enough public support to obtain a majority government in the
next election, according to a poll released on Friday.

The Segma survey for La Presse put the Conservatives at 36
percent in public support and the Liberals on 30 percent, the
same scores that both parties achieved in the January 2006
election.

Segma said voters showed little enthusiasm for either Prime
Minister Stephen Harper -- an aloof figure who opponents say
harbors a hidden extremist agenda -- or Liberal leader Stephane
Dion, who is struggling to maintain control over his party.

Under Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system, a
party needs around 40 percent of the vote to win a majority of
the 308 seats in the federal Parliament. The Conservatives have
127 seats and the Liberals have 96.

According to the poll, 11 percent of Canadians were very
satisfied with the government with a further 48 percent
somewhat satisfied.

"This rate of satisfaction is soft. No one is blown away by
this government and the Conservatives are therefore not gaining
any ground," Segma's Raynald Harvey told La Presse.

The Segma survey of 1,476 adult Canadians was conducted
between April 3 and 9 and is considered accurate to within 2.6
percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

A smaller Nanos Research survey released on Friday put both
the Conservatives and Liberals at 36 percent. The poll of 827
Canadians was conducted between April 4 and 9 and is considered
accurate to within 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.